Coding4Food
Coding4Food Phase 1 Workgroup Application deadline extended to 11pm PT Friday, April 12th. Seeking subject matter experts for:
Medically Tailored Meals
Medically Tailored Groceries
Produce Prescriptions
Read the Phase 1 Workgroup Member Information Packet to access the workgroup member applications.
Vision
Standard codes are used across the country to accurately track, bill, and evaluate a spectrum of Food is Medicine interventions.
Mission
The Coding4Food (C4F) project is a community-informed initiative aiming to create new Healthcare Common Procedural Coding System (HCPCS) codes to define a spectrum of Food is Medicine interventions as healthcare services, allowing for their full integration into healthcare system infrastructure.
Background
Codes are a critical component of our healthcare infrastructure system – enabling healthcare providers to accurately bill insurance providers for services and labor and track a patient’s medical journey and outcomes by recording assessments, referrals, treatments, and procedures. As healthcare innovation and policy change continue to provide new and more effective tools to prevent, treat, and reverse diet-related chronic conditions, new codes must be created to reflect these new pathways of care. Despite the recent increase in interest and attention to the integration of Food is Medicine interventions into healthcare payment and delivery systems, there remains a lack of adequate codes to document and bill for these Food is Medicine interventions.
The Coding4Food project aims to create new HCPCS codes to integrate a spectrum of Food is Medicine interventions into the healthcare system:
Medically Tailored Meals and Groceries
Medically Supportive Meals and Groceries
Pantry Stocking
Food Pharmacies
Produce Prescriptions
Teaching Kitchens
Nutrition Supports
These interventions will be defined in a consensus-building process with experts from across the country. The consensus-building process will be facilitated by the Gravity Project in partnership with SPUR and with guidance from the C4F Advisory Committee. Project leaders expect to submit applications for new HCPCS codes over 2025.
Timeline
Spring 2024
Form Subject Matter Expert workgroups for Phase 1 interventions
Medically Tailored Meals, Medically Tailored Groceries, and Produce Prescriptions
Fall 2024
Phase 1 Workgroups Convene
Aiming for January 2025 HCPCS Application submission.
Fall 2024
Form Subject Matter Expert workgroups for Phase 2 interventions
Pantry Stocking/Groceries, Food Pharmacies, Teaching Kitchens, and others to be determined.
Winter 2024/2025
Phase 2 Workgroups Convene
Aiming for July 2025 HCPCS Application submission.
Advisory Committee
Constantina Papoutsakis, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Katie Garfield, Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School
Sarah Downer, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)
Cathryn Couch, Ceres Community Project
Kim Madsen, Ceres Community Project
Jamie Heberer, Chorus Community Health Plans/Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP)
Kofi Essel, Elevance Health
Elise August, Feeding America
Alissa Wassung, Food is Medicine Coalition (FIMC)
Becca Kahn, Food & Friends
Emma Steinberg, Pediatric Hospitalist
Jen Obadia, Project Bread
David Eisenberg, Teaching Kitchen Collaborative
Nikki Kmicinski, Western New York Integrated Care Collaborative, Inc.
Brent Ling, Wholesome Wave/National Produce Prescription Collaborative (NPPC)
Learn More
To receive RFA announcements, updates, and alerts about the Coding4Food project, please join our Mailing List.
For specific questions about the Coding4Food project, please contact Katie Ettman (kettman@spur.org) and Kristin Sukys (kristin@fimstrategies.com).
Click here to learn more about The Gravity Project.
For more information on Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System, visit CMS's HCPCS General Information webpage.